Levels of War - applied/scaled to airsoft

[SilentVectorX]

Most people with formal training in Strategy & Doctrine will know the three Levels of War (LoW); Strategic, Operational, and Tactical.

Things are about to get confusing - first I'll define the LoW as taught officially, then I'll go into scaling it for airsoft.

Strategic - Concerned with deciding the use of national powers (economic, political, military, etc) to ensure national security and national objectives.
Operational - Concerned with moving forces into theatres of operation and generating combat forces, as well as employment of forces at the basic levels of military doctrine.
Tactical - Employment of detailed doctrine directly concerning specific assets and conditions happens at this level (duh). This is the level where 'things actually happen'.

Now, normally these levels are defined in absolute terms. I've done some thinking lately, and scaled them down some to help with generating game strategies.

Airsoft LoW
Strategic - Identify game winning conditions and prioritize. Establish objectives for combined friendly forces. Identify any 'global' bonuses or strengths of friendly forces.
Operational - Define movement, attack, and defense operations including methods, priorities, timing, etc which will satisfy the objectives decided in the previous level (strategic). Also establish coordination of operations and control measures for movement and reinforcement of personnel and forces.
Tactical - The actual execution of operations (normally at the squad level). Assault and defense of the Objective Points (OPs).

There are a few people that should be able to give me some feedback - you know who you are, dont make me come after you!  Discuss.

[scout penguin]

Sounds interesting.

[gunfather6]

    For your "levels of war" to be applied effectively you need a team that is driven to succeed at the game objectives, not just rack up kills.  One of my pet peeves is players who treat airsoft like a live action first person shooter.  Their only goal is to get an attractive kill to death radio with a total disregard for team objectives.  I would prefer these players stay off the field, or at least on the other team.  Don't get me wrong, I like scoring a kill as much as the next guy, but the team objective always takes priority over personal glory.
     

[DEBERT]

Amen. New players to the sport, particularly if they're younger/less mature tend to do this. I know on multiple occasions I've become so consumed with an enemy contact that I forget the objective and focus on the kill.

[Wraith]

well put, gunfather. i agree. truthfully, i have never really gotten to play in a squad willing to follow orders to well, so im really hoping i get a good one at the Op. i dont really care about kills, i just like the feeling of success when everything comes together just as it was planned.

[DEBERT]

The problem is things rarely ever come together just as planned. In my opinion success is much sweeter when the oposition does the unexpected and your team reacts well and is resourceful, flexible, and unified enough to overcome it.

[Wraith]

or the opposing force unexpectedly does the expected and manages to fall right into your hands 

[scout penguin]

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy --Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Is that what you guys are saying?

[Wraith]

id have to say that somes it up pretty darn well. well put, and i like the quote.

[SilentVectorX]

It's a good quote, but not always true.

The point is that knowing the enemy goes a lot farther than luck. This is only a framework for building a strategy. I haven't even got to the principles of war, elements of combat power, and terrain analysis.

The problem is things rarely ever come together just as planned. In my opinion success is much sweeter when the oposition does the unexpected and your team reacts well and is resourceful, flexible, and unified enough to overcome it.

This is the opposite of my experience. War is an art AND a science - if you think it cannot be studied you are sadly mistaken.

Additionally, the US Principles of War stress initiative, improvisation, and flexibility.

[Whiskey11]

Some of the best leaders in war follow no plan other than to react to what is put infront of them.  Formulating a plan in advance is a recipe for a headache and problems.  I understand the doctrines of the military but I fail to see how reading a book and following the steps layed out makes anyone a leader.  Leading is something that comes from the inside.  It's not a choice, it's a skill trait you have.  I know personally from my Scouting experience that even some of the most motivated people are horrible leaders (I've seen them go through and fail leadership training courses). 

For airsoft this LoW thing is a pregame exercise not one for the field or on the fly.  A good leader should have a very broad plan of attack and how he wants to execute that plan not a book on it.  Vector isnt saying make a book and execute it by the book.  That has almost never worked.  Like I said earlier.  Great leaders lead on the fly and can analyze a situation and make a gut instinct as to what he wants his people to do on the fly based on imperfect information.

For instance consider taking a flag that is on the side of a hill.  The leader of said squad to do that knows that his objective is to capture that flag and that in order to do that he has to fight on the side of a hill.  So while enroute to the flag with his squad he is formulating a rough plan of attack that pertains to general movements required to take the flag.  In this case he could have his assault element attack the downhill side of the flag base while his support element pushes from the obvious location (furthur up the hill).  But he doesnt get more detailed then that because he doesnt know what to expect at the base. 

Say now a sniper reports in that there is 4 guys at the base.  Two with SAW's aiming torwards the uphill side and one rifleman and a DM aiming out the sides.  This type of information can then be plugged into the equation the squad leader is formulating.  Knowing this he may wish to pull some guys off of his assault element to attack the side with the Rifleman on it instead of joining the rest. 

As he approaches he notices that the forces have changed and the terrain is not as expected.  Now he can factor in that.

The point is that you need to be able to situationaly analyze and formulate your plan of attack on the fly not in advance.

I'm not sure if that makes sense.  But what Vector is saying is kinda a pregame thing during the prep time before the game so people are on the same page. 

[Bubba]

Strategic - The political B.S. fed to the nation by reporters, politicians, anyone at an airshow.
Operational - The game carried out to keep the public happy.
Tactical - Keeping all the short comings hidden from the public so as to protect the budget, while letting the enemy know enough not to worry at night that you might blow up his house.

"Now, normally these levels are defined in absolute terms. I've done some thinking lately, and scaled them down some to help with generating game strategies." (Stolen quote)

Airsoft LoW
Strategic - Signing up for a game.
Operational - Playing the game.
Tactical - Every thing that goes wrong is part of the Real military experience. All the fun of shooting you gun at someone is part of the real military day off.

[Miles]

Just to let everyone kinda know. In the infantry while conducting squad movments on an objective you want to go undected most of the time. Although if you make contact you must do what they call "React to Contact". Sweep through and kill the enemy. After the engagement is complete you move on to your objective. Also most of the time when Officers create this magical plan on how to assault an objective it goes right out the window. Due to terrain, unkown locations of enemy personell...etc.     Thats just my two cents on tactics and stuff....

[Miles]

It's a good quote, but not always true.

The point is that knowing the enemy goes a lot farther than luck. This is only a framework for building a strategy. I haven't even got to the principles of war, elements of combat power, and terrain analysis.

The problem is things rarely ever come together just as planned. In my opinion success is much sweeter when the oposition does the unexpected and your team reacts well and is resourceful, flexible, and unified enough to overcome it.

This is the opposite of my experience. War is an art AND a science - if you think it cannot be studied you are sadly mistaken.

Additionally, the US Principles of War stress initiative, improvisation, and flexibility.

Art is pantings and stuff....And science deals with vials and chemicals and stuff. War is unpredictable.

[DEBERT]

SVX's point is legit though. It may be unpredictable but it still can be studied. My point was you must leave your initial battle plans open ended because things hardly ever "come together just as planned."